Zephyr
by not-quite-legit
Summary: Two trainers find themselves pulled into the maelstrom of a nation in the middle of a civil war. But hey; what's adventure without a little danger? Game-verse, OCs.
1. Chapter 1

Zephyr

Chapter One

A heavy gust picked up and sailed north from the Olivine coast, grazing the grass and scraping the surfaces of lakes and mountain snow alike as it went. Something big was coming, and the whole region seemed to be holding its breath in anticipation. Even the land itself seemed to sense something was about to happen, and the world-famous winds were charged with static that morning that even the most oblivious ground-type was sure to feel.

But for two trainers, that day was just the start of an adventure like any other, the breaking-in of a whole new region to explore, completely unaware of the danger looming on the horizon that threatened to overtake Johto.

"Noctowl, get back here!" Hollis shouted, dashing after his pokemon as fast as he could. The owl pokemon, born and raised in Hoenn, had never seen a rattata before, much less one as plump and juicy-looking as the one he was in pursuit of right now. His trainer, a boy of about fourteen, was none too thrilled, trying desperately to recall the pokemon back to its great ball and hang onto his black messenger bag, to no avail. Noctowl was completely oblivious to his trainer's frenzied commands as he chased the little purple rat down the last large hill descending back into Olivine City, his trainer dropping his brand-new supplies all the way.

All in all, not a great way to start a new adventure in a new region.

At the same time, another's journey was off to a bad start as well. Alisa, who had come from the Unova region to start a new adventure, had found herself rummaging through the mountains of produce at the Olivine Farmer's Market on the north side of town. Soon after arriving, though, one of her pokemon, a weavile, spotted something shiny darting out of the city and heading north on Route 39. In typical Weavile fashion, curiosity got the best of her and she decided to investigate, leaving Alisa all alone.

As luck would have it, Hollis's Noctowl was so caught up in chasing his poor victim that he failed to notice the weasel-like coming at him head-on until it was too late. The two collided and fell to the ground with a hollow _thud_, the sharp claw pokemon rolling back a few feet. Hollis finally caught up to the AWOL flying-type, only to come face-to-face with a pissed-off Weavile.

Yep, things were definitely _not_ looking up for him.

Weavile snarled at the pair, upset that that clumsy bird had made her lose the trail of the shiny object. She flexed her claws menacingly and sauntered towards them, pondering which attack she should use to punish them. Perhaps a Night Slash would take care of them? Or maybe an Ice Punch... yes, that sounded betterto her. The weasel-like pokemon broke into a run, curling her long claws into the best fist she could manage and prepared to strike-

"Weavile! Don't run off like that again! That's so dangerous!" Alisa scolded, running up the hill as fast as she could. Another of her pokemon, a Luxray with only one eye, trotting beside his trainer. The luxray growled at the two strangers; Hollis put his hands up in defense. Great, now there were more maniacs coming along to eat him!

"Not the face!" he squealed, voice cracking. Noctowl squawked in alarm as well, but the other trainer just sighed and shook her head.

"I'm really sorry about all of this," she apologized. "Weavile and Luxray won't attack you. Weavile here just up and ran off a few minutes ago, and I was lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the direction she was heading in. I'm glad I caught her before she had time to attack... But I have to ask, what upset her so badly she was ready to knock your heads off with an Ice Punch?"

"Um... " Hollis paused for a moment and scratched his head. "I guess they ran into each other? I really don't know."

"Hm. Fair enough," Alisa replied, extending a hand. "I'm Alisa, from the Unova region. You are?"

Hollis shook her hand roughly and grinned. "My name's Hollis. I'm from Slateport, in the Hoenn region."

"So then, Hollis from Hoenn," Alisa said, "what are you doing here in Johto?"

"I'm heading up to Ecruteak to challenge the gym leader there. It'll be my first Johto gym badge."

"I'm heading up there, too," Alisa said. "Would you like to walk together?" Seeing Hollis's fearful expression and quick glance down at a glowering Weavile, she laughed and assured him that Weavile would be in her pokeball.

"So," Hollis started, turning to face north along with Alisa, "what's it like in Unova?"

* * *

><p>If Route 39's rolling hills and pleasant sea breezes were pretty, then Ecruteak City was <em>gorgeous. <em>Several centuries-old buildings stood among modern highrises and stores, yet the city still retained all of its historic charm. Most notably, two towers rose high above the rest of the city- or that would have been the case, _Johto's Places and People! Guide _informed us, if the tower farthest west hadn't burned down. It wasn't a recent fire; it was plenty obvious from a distance that several years of rain and snow had taken their toll on the once-proud building, but that only seemed to give it more character. However, none of these things were on Aleise's or Hollis's minds. They were focused on the Ecruteak City gym, on the south side of town.

It was 2 'o clock in the afternoon when the duo arrived in Ecruteak, both eager for the gym battle that lay ahead. Hollis immediately- and predictably; he was never one to linger on tourist attractions- headed for the gym. His excitement had built and built for the last two days, and he could stand it no longer. The doors swung wide open as he stepped in, looking as ready to battle as an angry gyarados.

"I'm here for my badge, Morty!" he hollered, met by silence.

Several elders meditating in the gym snapped out of their trances and looked up at the overexcited trainer. Hollis blushed in embarrassment, but nevertheless began pestering the mediums about the gym leader's whereabouts. Almost as if on cue, two silhouettes appeared in a thick cloud of smoke that smelled like pot as a door in the back of the gym opened.

The duo, already a bit creeped out by their surroundings, could hear two obnoxious voices giggling that unnerved them even more. "Um... Should we come back later?" Hollis asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, man," one voice drawled, "we got enough Mary Jane to go around! Come smoke some with us!"

"Uh... What?" he asked.

"Oh Hell yeah! I'm in," Alisa said, dashing through the cloud of smoke, only to find the floors missing in action. Screaming at the top of her lungs, the trainer fell to what would have been her death- if something hadn't warped her to the ceiling and dropped her at the entrance of the gym. She cursed loudly as she fell flat on the cold tile, threatening everyone within a five-mile radius with a string of incomprehensible threats.

Hollis, a bit frightened after seeing that scene play out before him, watched in awe as the pungent smoke dissipated and revealed a young man in his early twenties, with sandy-blonde hair, a black sweater, white pants and the most shocking violet eyes he'd ever seen on anyone. True to his guidebook's description, it was indeed the gym leader Morty standing before him, though he was missing his signature headband and scarf. A faint smile played on his lips and a hint of amusement shone in his eyes.

"Gets 'em every time," he snickered. "So, you said something about a gym battle?"

* * *

><p>So, first chapter. And it's only one in the morning! 8D<p>

Sorry it's a little short... and kind of sketchy. My younger brother and I are test-piloting this fic to see if we should continue with it, and I kind of like it so far. Feedback is appreciated very much.

I can't think of a better title right now, so I'm titling it "Zephyr" as a reference to Johto's winds. It has nothing to do with the first badge.

Oh, and I may accept OCs later on, but I'm not sure yet. What do you guys think?


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Hollis was positively _stoked. _Not even two days in Johto, and he was already preparing to face off against a gym leader there! Reaching for a grass-stained pokeball on his belt, he glanced back at his new travelling partner- he assumed, anyway- and gave her a thumbs-up. She shrugged and gave him halfhearted a thumbs-up back from the bleachers she had found her way to.

Morty had pulled a pokeball from his pocket and was about to throw it when a loud rumble interrupted them. There was one, a dull sound resonating off the inside of the gym, and then another... Morty's face hardened and he turned to Hollis, expression grim.

"Not again...Our battle will have to wait till later. I'm sorry," he said in a hurried tone, and just like that he disappeared from the gym.

Hollis released his two pokemon, a grovyle and the noctowl from before, and turned towards Alisa. "What was that all about? I want my badge," he pouted. "Come with me to see what's going on."

Alisa sighed and stood up. "Not like I have much choice."

Outside was complete chaos. A building a few blocks from the gym- an important one, Alisa supposed- had gone up in flames and there were several trainers gathered around the building's perimeter, trying to put out the flames. Down the street, a little closer to the gym, another, smaller building was on fire, but didn't recieve nearly as much attention as the first. A flood of screams and shouts filled the air as about fifty people evacuated the building, some coughing like mad, several screaming and blabbering incessantly, and many wounded.

"Where's the Fire Department in all this?" Alisa demanded, shocked.

"We don't have one," a man behind them answered. "Not since the war began, anyway. All of our firemen were drafted into the army and the city left pokemon trainers to handle stuff like this." His tone was bitter.

"The war? What do you mean?" Hollis asked. "The guide didn't say anything about a _war!_"

"Two weeks ago, our President declared war on Kanto... but that's all I know."

The two trainers turned to eachother with horrified expressions. Alisa seriously doubted that this adventure would be anything less than a fight for survival now.

* * *

><p>A few hours later, the two found themselves at the town Pokemon Center, which had been temporarily converted into an emergency hospital. There were no casualties thus far, but a lot of people came and went rom the two operating rooms in the back, many covered in blood and ash and one even missing a limb. A whole neighborhood had been destroyed by the Tin Tower to the east, and most of the residents were staying in the gymnasium of a local elementary school, but the overflow had been forced to come to the pokemon center. Hollis shuddered and pulled the blue blanket around him tighter, watching Alisa wipe down her starter pokemon's back. The pokemon, a zweilous that seemed a bit on the small side, growled at her with its two heads when she got too close to his tail. The heads would occasionally catch each other growling and start to fight, at which point Alisa had to intervene. Her other pokemon, Weavile and Luxray, were resting nearby and watching Hollis carefully. Hollis's two pokemon just watched from behind their trainer.<p>

"Um..." Hollis started. Alisa paused down the middle of Zweilous's back and looked up at him with tired eyes. "I was wondering... How did you meet your pokemon?"

She tilted her head to one side and gave him an odd look. "Why?"

"Please just tell me a story or something," he said. "I'm still a little shaken up from before... I know it was nothing, but still. I don't like blood."

Alisa shrugged and inhaled theatrically, earning a small smile from her travelling partner. "Well, I already told you that Zweilous was my first pokemon. My mother gave me his egg when I turned ten, but neither of us knew what was inside. I'd been training him for a few years with my mother's help because she didn't want me starting my journey with something as unruly as a Deino. We actually got about three quarters of the Unova gym badges last year... Oh yeah, then there's Weavile. My mom runs a small little Daycare back home, not some big corporate one like the one in Striaton... or, I guess, near Mauville or something for you. Anyway, someone left her there as a Sneasel fter she lost a bad fight, and that's why part of her ear is misssing. And Luxray? Same story. I'm not sure why his eye is missing, though. He's kind of reclusive. How did you meet your pokemon?"

"You sure do talk a lot," Hollis laughed. "I got Grovyle here the same way as pretty much every other kid, by talking my mom into letting me reserve a pokemon that the professor had. We've been travelling together for a couple months and I hold four badges, no thanks to this guy." Hollis paused to flick the leaf on the sleepy reptile's head. "And Noctowl was my mom's. She caught him towards the end of her journey, but never actually trained him. He's as old as me."

"Awww," Alisa cooed. "What's your family like?"

"Well, there was never a dull moment at home," he said, cracking a slight grin. "The 'rents fought a lot, and my younger brother and sister always got more attention than I did. Even so, my mother always made fantastic spaghetti. Perfect for rainy days," he laughed.

"That's really nice," Alisa said wistfully. "I only ever knew my mom. Even the fighting sounds kind of nice. I mean, at least then it still kind of feels like they care about each other... Sorry, that probably sounds weird, huh."

"A little," Hollis admitted.

The conversation carried on for a good hour after that. It was just small talk- I only went for that weed because it's valuable and I'm not a stoner- I promise, what did you come to Johto for, why are you so crazy, what do you feed your pokemon, et cetera. Around bedtime, the local Nurse Joy walked around the lobby and handed everyone laying in their cots a small mug of hot chocolate. It wasn't much, just a styrofoam cup half-filled with a lukewarm, watery substance, but the two were grateful for every drop.

It was around ten o' clock before the two finally drifted off into an uneasy sleep, scared of what they would wake up to in the morning. Dangerous or not, though, they were in this together, and there was nothing for them to do but keep moving forward.

* * *

><p>Poop. This didn't come out so well, but whatever. I'll redo it later, maybe.<p>

I meant to kind of explain who the war was between and a little more of the characters' history. I'm not entirely sure what I want to be the reason for the war- I'm thinking resources, kind of a big _duh._

Oh well, I still kind of liked writing this chapter. Midnight, eff yeah 8D


End file.
